Breathe
by GreenEmeraldGirlxoxo
Summary: "If I wanted to drown, would you let me?" JerZa


**Pairings: **Jellal x Erza

**Timeline: **Sometime after the Seven Year Arc and briefly during the Tower of Heaven Arc

**Warnings: **Almost character death, sadness (?) and mild OOCness.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fairy Tail

**Authors Note: **This turned out longer than I intended… Enjoy.

**.X.**

_ "If I wanted to drown, would you let me?" she asked him, holding fast to his hand as if she'd plummet through the ground to the sea._

_ "Why would you ask me that?" he replied, squeezing her fingers, almost like he was grasping something that was fading from existence._

_ She laughed, nudging him with her shoulder, "It's just a question."_

_ He frowned, "I don't want to answer that, Erza." He pushed himself off the rock they were sitting on, releasing her hand. "I think I'm going to return to the tower now."_

_ "Jellal, wait," Erza said, getting to her feet, "I'm sorry… I just… I want to know." _

_ The blue haired boy visibly hesitated, gripping his hands tightly into fists at his sides, "I can't answer that."_

_ She crossed her arms, suddenly feeling frustrated with his lack of response, "Why not? It's just a question."_

_ Jellal whipped around, his eyes unable to mask his rage, "Because Erza! I don't ever want to think of you dying!" _

_ Erza swallowed, letting her eyes fall away from his face. "Please, Jellal, just answer me." She scratched at her elbow, her scarlet hair covering her face. Remorse shone in her pretty dark brown eyes. Erza knew—deep down in her childish heart—that it was wrong to ask him this. _

_ He ran his fingers through his hair, his own brown eyes softening. "Erza…" He truly didn't ever want to think of her dying, but if she really wanted to know._

_ The red head forced herself to blink away her tears when Jellal's fingers brushed against her flushed cheek. He playfully pinched her cheek, smiling weakly._

_ "I wouldn't let you drown, Erza," Jellal said, his voice quiet, "I can't live without you."_

**.X.**

Erza's sword flew from her hand, driving itself into a tree. Quickly, she re-quipped her armour into the red and yellow pants and bondage bands. Enemies closed in on her, never giving her an inch nor taking one.

She was stuck in this endless battle of tug of war, pushing and pulling but never winning. Infuriated, Erza screamed, slicing down opponent after opponent. When one fell, three more replaced it.

This was probably the stupidest mission she could have ever done by herself. The task itself was to simply protect a man crossing the borders from Fiore to Bosco but the real challenge—which was left out of the job request—was that this man was being hunted by ruthless mages who duplicated faster than Erza could re-quip. Jonathan—the man who requested her—had already been slashed down in front of her, and now, she just wanted to stop the pointless fighting.

"Titania!" a wicked voice screamed, stabbing one of her discarded swords through her back. The fearless Fairy Tail mage gasped, blood gurgling in her mouth. She spat it out, unable to breathe. The man jerked the sword from her body.

Erza staggered, pressing her hand against her toned stomach. Blood slipped past her fingers, splattering on the ground. The men closed in, grabbing her and dragging her closer to the cliff.

The wizard who originally got the better of her licked her blood of his weapon, his eyes gleaming with malice. She barely managed to shoot daggers at him, her magic rolling off her body in waves.

"To be sure," he snarled, impaling the weapon back through the same wound he'd given her before. In a split second, the men peeled away and this sick bastard kicked the red head, sending her flying off the cliff, driving his weapon further in her.

Erza couldn't even scream. In fact, she didn't even feel the pain. She was aware of the blood—oh god, the blood—but it was like she'd slipped into a blissful state. Being this tranquil, screaming and crying wasn't on her agenda.

Hitting the water shot the sword out of her body, as she sank further beneath the surface. Fish swam away from her, terrified of the bleeding woman in their territory.

Perhaps this was her intention all along, being buried in an oceanic grave. Though she potentially had the strength—the will—to swim and live, she just didn't feel like it. Being asphyxiated in the ocean wasn't all that bad, she decided, closing her eyes, blocking out the beautiful rays of sunlight.

She blacked out before she died.

**.X.**

"Erza… Stay with me! _You are not leaving me_!" he cried, pumping against her chest and blowing air into her lungs. "Erza!"

Coughing and sputtering a combination of blood and water, Erza gasped, her eyes prying themselves open. Everything was blurry and her stomach ached so much she wanted to close her eyes again and never open them. So she did.

Hands were cupping her face, pressing against her stomach, as if protecting her. It felt so warm, despite the increasingly agonizing pain from her stomach.

"Please," his voice had grown timid, shaking from his attempt to hold back sobs, "wake up!"

Erza, somewhere deep inside her, desperately wanted to see his face. It couldn't be him… When she opened her eyes this time, they focused. Jellal knelt above her, tears dripping down his face as he cradled her head in his lap.

"J…Jellal?" she muttered, her voice crackly.

"Oh god," he breathed, stroking her face, "I thought I'd lost you."

Her attempt at a giggle was pathetic, "I never thought I'd see the great Jellal whimpering."

"Erza," he said sharply, "that's not funny. You almost died—I think you did die for a second. I have to get you to a healer." He added the last part as an almost after thought.

"No…" she said, "No, why didn't you let me drown?" If she had died, it wouldn't be this painful for her. And it wasn't about the gaping wound in her stomach, more like just _looking_ at Jellal after his rejection was leaving her heart broken. A broken heart was a hundred times more painful than a million stabs to the side—and she would know since it's happened to her more than once.

Jellal gave her a small smile, "Aren't you going to ask how I found you?" He was avoiding her question. Jellal moved out from under her and moved into a squat, picking Erza up bridal style. He had to get her help, there was in way in hell he'd ever let her die.

Erza decided to humour him, even though breathing was becoming progressively more difficult for her. "How?"

A genuine smile twitched at his lips, "I followed you." Of course he did.

She was quiet for a moment, "Jellal, why didn't you let me die?"

"Don't ask me that again, Erza," he replied, angrily.

Erza clutched his shirt, "Please, I—I love you…"

He drew a sharp breath. His fingers stiffened in her skin, making her flinch. Relaxing he answered her; "I do love you, Erza. Isn't that enough? Do I really need a reason to save you?"

"Yes," she said, coughing again. Erza let her eyes droop, but made sure she stayed awake, afraid if she passed out she'd die. And now that she had Jellal's confession, she had no intentions of dying.

Jellal sighed, "I've told you before, Erza, I can't live without you."

She giggled, "I'm your oxygen, Jellal, so don't ever leave me again."

"I won't," he promised, still thinking about that healer, "I can't breathe without you in my life."

**.X.**

… This is the first thing I've written in a while that I ended up liking lol. Yes, I know both Erza and Jellal are OOC but meh, I still liked how it turned out. Anyways, ciao!

~Emerald~


End file.
